My Pro Boxer System

The room fell silent. Nothing but my own ragged breathing as I stared at Cassian lying unconscious on the floor. His friends rushed into the ring to check on him, a few of them shooting me glares.

I got the feeling that if Captain Lucian was in the room with us, it would be a different story altogether. I climbed out of the ring and took a seat on one of the benches to catch my breath. That's when I was approached by a bald old man with a thick white beard. He stood with his hand behind his back, examining my face before he finally spoke.

"Who are you, kid?"

"My name is Liam," I said before taking a deep gasp for air. "I'm looking to join the boxing club, sir."

"Liam, huh?" His eyes had a gleam to them I couldn't quite explain.

"Coach Graham." Captain Lucian came up from behind, but the old man silenced him with a wave of his hand and kept his eyes on me.

"Well, Liam, where did you learn to box like that?"

"Online videos."

The coach stared at me with a blank expression. My words hung silently until the coach's mouth finally curved upwards into a huge grin. He patted my back and gave a huge laugh that seemed to flow from the depths of his stomach.

"It's quite obvious that that's the case, but your footwork still is remarkable." His eyes narrowed as he smiled. "Nice match, kid; you did good."

"Thank you, sir."

His gaze then turned sharply to Captain Lucian.

"Lucian, explain to me, what is all this?" the coach asked.

Captain Lucian adjusted his glasses before speaking.

"We have a newcomer, sir. I wanted to see if he was worth the effort of bringing into our club."

"So how come I never heard of this?"

"I didn't want to trouble you with trivial matters. He's an untrained newbie, sir. We get a few of them every once in a while—kids who saw a boxing match on television and thought it looked cool and flashy, but they all end up quitting within a week of starting."

"You have enough on your plate training the first years to get their licenses. I didn't want to bother you with this." Ivy rushed to his defense. Her normally cool and lax face showed a little panic. "Grandpa, if you want to blame anyone for this, blame me."

Grandpa?

"That's not the only matter at hand," the coach continued. "I've also heard talks of Cassian being kicked out of the club if he lost the match."

"That was my idea as well," Ivy spoke up before Lucian could utter a word. "It was a joke meant to motivate him."

"Is that so?" The old man eyed them suspiciously.

Lucian didn't bother uttering a word; instead, he allowed Ivy to take all the blame.

After an awkward silence, the old man's gaze shifted to me.

"Well, young man, welcome to the boxing club." He held out his hand, and I firmly took it for a handshake.

Despite his age, his grip was firm. He squinted his eyes, and a kind smile rose on his face.

"Thank you; I'm happy to join," I said.

"Well, that's good to hear. Take the day off; you've earned it, but make sure you come back tomorrow for the beginning of your training."

I nodded and got up and dragged myself home.

[You did a very good job back there, and for that, you've managed to complete two quests. As a reward, you get to take the day off. How great is that?]

I ignored Alexa's words entirely as an unexplainable emotion welled up inside of me. My mind flashed back to Cassian's body lying unconscious on the floor, and a sense of euphoria washed over me.

With every blow that landed, it was like a newfound clarity. My eyes instinctively locked onto the spots that would cause him the most pain, and I pounded away at them like a blacksmith beating steel. I didn't care what anyone else thought about the way I fought; winning was all that mattered in the end.

[Back At The Boxing Gym]

Cassian lay unconscious on a bench until his friend Damon rushed into the room hysterically with a bucket of cold water. Before the coach or the captain could utter a word of objection, he doused him.

Cassian sprang up with a loud gasp, like a zombie rising from the dead. Before he had time to gather his thoughts, Damon jumped on him, giving him a tight hug.

"I'm glad you're okay, man."

Everyone in the boxing gym watched the two of them embrace.

"Thanks," Cassian mumbled, his words barely above a whisper. He lowered his head, too ashamed to show his face to his club members until he saw his coach standing in the background. "Coach Graham—"

He paused, unable to find the words to make up for his loss. Coach Graham, sensing his hesitation, approached him.

"You lost," the coach said matter-of-factly.

Cassian's fist clenched at the old man's words.

"But that only means you'll have to work harder starting tomorrow."

Cassian's eyes widened as the implications of the coach's words sank in.

"B-But—"

"No buts! I'll whip you into shape so much that you won't have time to worry about that pathetic display from earlier."

'Huh? I'm not getting kicked out of the club,' Cassian thought, tears welling up in the corners of his eyes, but he quickly wiped them away so that the others couldn't see.

"Yes, sir! I'll work much harder from now on."